The Life and Times of Merrin Meredith
by Little Lotte547
Summary: I am writing oneshots (one-shots?) all about the most misunderstood character in Septimus Heap, Merrin Meredith. Please send requests for anything you ever wanted to know about Merrin and I will write a scene about your idea. Let's give Merrin the love he deserves from the fandom! Some chapters could be rated M based on requests.
1. Chapter 1

I am going to write oneshots about Merrin Meredith here since I don't think he gets enough love from the fandom. I have wanted to do this for a loooonnnnng time. So now, I am taking requests. Any scene you want to see with Merrin that you wish Angie had written more about, write a review and I'll write it for you! If some chapters are rated M, I'm gonna say that at the beginning so that no one reads stuff they don't want to read. I think Merrin is just misunderstood and he deserves a second chance. He messed up, yeah, but my opinion is that he messes up because he is lonely and feels like everyone hates him. Send your requests and let me know what you all thought of Fyre. I kind of liked it but there was like no Merrin at all so I'm gonna make up for that here. Send requests!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to MinaChan, Kaitlyn, and the always lovely Camilla Richard for leaving reviews.

MinaChan, dude, I agree with almost everything you said about Fyre. I was like mega disappointed by the story and I hated how Angie just threw everyone's favorite characters in for like two seconds and then they were gone. I felt like the whole book was about Marcellus, Marcia, and Jenna. There was really way too much Marcia. It feels like she made Marcia the fucking main character in these last couple of books and I really don't understand that. It is supposed to be a coming of age story about the young people. But oh no! We're talking about Marcia and her emotional issues for 85% of the book. I really like Jenna and I wanted to know more about her relationship with her mom, Cerys. I was expecting so much more from that. All we got was "Oh mum's a bitch!" and then they didn't talk about her again. Milo didn't even seem happy to see Cerys because he is all focused on is….wait for it….MARCIA! And when we aren't suffering through Marcia infested chapters, we're learning about Marcellus and his alchemie nonstop. I wanted to see more of Jenna, Sep, Beetle, Syrah, and Simon. Syrah was barely in the damn book! What was the point of making Syren all about her if she is never featured again and Sep just finds another girl? Don't you even get me started on Nicko. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nicko and he was barely in the book. He doesn't act like Nicko and I really missed Snorri. I liked a lot of the parts you liked but NO Merrin was the biggest turn off of all. The Merrin chapter was the best part of the book. Nursie is an awesome mom and Merrin deserves that. I missed all the fun characters like Spit Fyre and Stanley. They made her books special. I liked that Wolf Boy became Keeper but she should NOT have KILLED Zelda just to make him Keeper. Zelda was like what, 60? I was shocked when I read that. Hell yeah, this book disappointed me.

CR, I would love to hear your opinions about Fyre since you have left such a large impact on this fandom. I have to admit that I think it sucks that you don't want to do anything with it. I was kind of sad to learn that you don't love these characters like you used to but your ASOUE stuff is the shit. I joined 667 just to review it. Lol. I love your playlists for your stories. They're sick. Now, when I hear Broken, I always think of sexy Esme Squalor instead of my ex girlfriend. You are good at making me see the positive side of things. I think it is wicked that both Lemony Snicket and Angie Sage are doing new books with their old characters so we don't have to say goodbye to the characters yet. I hope there is way more Merrin in the new series. What is it called? Like Tod something? Thank you for editing this for me. I loved your idea of what exactly Rose would look like since all we basically know is that she has light brown hair. The garden idea was great too. Thanks for helping out. You are an awesome unofficial beta. Glad you're kinda back, bitch. Lol.

Kaitlyn, that is a good idea!

This first oneshot is a short one sided Merrin/Rose like CR suggested but for the next one I think I'll go do something slashy cuz I love that shit. This scene happens while Merrin is recovering in the Sick Bay after Fyre. Spoilerz ahead, lads and ladies and a shitload of angst. Beware!

**NO Flames. I don't really think Syrah is plain but Merrin does. Live with it. **

He has never noticed her before today. He hasn't really paid attention to anyone in the Wizard Tower since he arrived. It is a dump after all and his memories of the place are not exactly what you could call comforting. The sunlight pouring in from the Sick Bay window illuminates his pale hand on the bed sheets. He stares long and hard at his hand. His _ruined _hand. No, he thinks, the Wizard Tower isn't a dump. It's a shithole and a fucking prison. He hates watching that apprentice who stole _his _name and_ his _identity prancing around the Sick Bay every afternoon, trying to talk to the girl in the room next to his. Merrin thinks that the apprentice's taste in women is proof of his stupidity. The girl in the next room is totally unremarkable. But it isn't the fact that Syrah Syara is plain that makes Merrin think that Septimus is even more stupid than he ever thought before. No, what shocks Merrin is that Septimus doesn't notice the only remarkable girl in the Wizard Tower, a girl he walks by every day but never sees.

Merrin has seen her for the first time that morning. She is kind of short and her green eyes are darker than most wizards. Her hair is like chestnut silk that falls almost to her tiny waist and her body is perfectly proportioned. But it isn't her body that he notices, not really. Merrin has seen a lot of pretty women. DomDaniel used to bring them up to his rooms in the Wizard Tower and have his way with them. Merrin even remembers the time that DomDaniel took advantage of Marcia Overstrand shortly after she was captured four years before. Merrin knows that Marcia knows that he remembers and that that is one of the many reasons she doesn't like looking at him. Merrin smirks. It had served her right. She is as bad as DomDaniel frankly. Maybe worse. Yeah, Merrin looks at the huge scar on his left hand, she is worse.

What Merrin notices is the girl's smile. It is huge, almost too big for her face but Merrin likes that. It is like she has enough happiness to share with everyone around her. Merrin has never seen someone like that before. His mother tries to be happy for him and he kind of likes that but even he can tell that she has seen too much shit to really be happy. Or at least she can't be happy like this girl, Rose.

Rose is a good name for her. Merrin doesn't tell people but he likes flowers. He likes the garden his mother keeps behind the Doll House because he feels invisible there. No one would think to look for him in the middle of all of those wild shrubs and weeds. The flowers tempt him. They suggest something about the world to Merrin. He doesn't know what and that bothers him more than he likes to admit. All he knows is that his mother's flower garden is one of the only places he feels completely comfortable and yes, the most common flowers in the garden are roses.

The scent of the roses is different from the rest of the flowers. The rest of them mix and create a mixed, floral scent but the roses don't mix as well. They actually seem to stand out and attack his senses and pull him deeper into the garden. Their innocence and beauty is not something he could have imagined until he moved in with his mother. _Maybe_, he thinks, _it is the innocence that I notice_. Merrin can't imagine being as optimistic as Rose seems to be. She doesn't know yet that the world is an ugly, empty place where you get hurt over and over again. Her lack of knowledge makes her more beautiful. Her innocence makes her warm and loving. Merrin remembers meeting the princess in the marshes four years before at the witch's cottage and he realizes that Rose reminds him of the princess before she turned into a stuck up bitch. He hopes nothing will ruin Rose the way that becoming Queen ruined Jenna. He hopes she never turns into some arrogant, hardass Wizard with no compassion for anyone but herself.

The light from the nearest window makes Merrin long for the outside world all over again. He thinks about Ma Custard's Pie Shop in the Ramblings. Would Ma Custard even offer him a sweet now after he started the Darke Domaine that did so much damage to the Castle and even brought death to some of its inhabitants? Merrin sighed. Probably not. He would be an outcast in the Castle forever. _That is okay_, he tells himself firmly, _the Castle is a fucking dump. Don't be forgetting that. _He rolls over in an effort to see less of the outside light. It doesn't really help.

Merrin can hear caterpillar boy leaving Syrah Syara's room next door and he finally starts to relax. He hadn't realized until now just how much tension that damn apprentice caused him, just by being there. That wasn't right. He could handle the stupid boy who had stolen his name! That apprentice was stupid, not Merrin! Everything always went right for caterpillar boy and everything sucked for him. Merrin is starting to wonder if things would have been easier if he hadn't been born at all. He groans loudly and no one notices. Or more likely, nobody cares.

Nobody, that is, except Rose. Merrin sees that perfect smile that no one seems to notice but him and he has to fight the urge to smile back. Rose looks happy to see him. Everyone else acts like he's invisible or something. He realizes that he expected her to act like too and that, right now, being the reason for Rose's huge grin seems like the best thing in the world to him.

"Are you doing okay, Merrin?" she asks, and it occurs to him that no one sans his mother has ever asked this question. Even though he likes her concern for him, he doesn't want to be a fool and let his guard down. " 'Course, I am. Why wouldn't I be?" he snaps.

Rose looks hurt and Merrin feels an ache deep in his chest. Her green eyes have stopped sparkling and Merrin hates it. He wants to make them sparkle again, brighter than ever. But when he tries to talk all he can think to say is, "Yeah, I'm okay" and he knows that saying that doesn't change shit. It won't make her any happier. As usual, he has ruined everything. He looks away from Rose, expecting her to leave him.

But Rose doesn't leave. She walks closer to his plain white bed at the edge of the large, airy room. "I heard you moaning, Merrin. Did you have a nightmare? I get those too sometimes." Merrin doesn't like questions like this but it doesn't bother him when Rose asks. She seems to really care about his answer even though he has no idea why. He wants to tell her how much her compassion means to him and how he likes her smile but he just can't. He doesn't know how.

"I just get upset." He says, at last, hoping it will suffice but knowing it won't.

It doesn't. "About what? Maybe I can help."

Merrin doesn't even know where to begin. He doesn't think Rose will like it if he says something negative about caterpillar boy. It seems like she has a crush on him. Just another thing that caterpillar boy has that he takes for granted. He's a spoiled prick. Rose is too beautiful for him. The more he looks at her, the more Merrin thinks she is an angel sent just for him. Maybe caterpillar boy and that bitch Overstrand don't notice her because only Merrin can see her. Maybe she is all for him. The thought makes Merrin smile and that makes Rose smile too.

"See," she says interrupting his thoughts, "I can help, can't I?"

"Maybe," he mutters, still not able to totally erase the grin from his face. He knows that Rose won't stay this innocent forever. One day, probably soon, she'll become one of them. Someday soon she won't even care if Merrin lives or dies. Caterpillar boy won't ignore someone as beautiful as Rose forever and he will teach her to hate Merrin just like everyone else does. As this realization dawns on him, Merrin buries his face in his hands. He is afraid that if he looks directly into her eyes again, he will fall in love with her. Merrin has never known love and he never thought he would. But there is no word but love for what is churning inside of his chest right now. He feels a sensation so powerful that it threatens to throw him back against the cold metal headboard of his uncomfortable bed. He isn't alone anymore. This remarkable girl is showing him kindness and through that kindness, he now feels a sense of peace descend over him. He isn't sure if he ever knew peace before this moment. What he does know is that he wants to be familiar with this peace forever. He never wants to feel alone or hated again. Merrin works up the courage to look into Rose's stunning eyes one more time. The glow in her eyes perfectly matches the bright smile on her pale face. A deep sensation of fullness and happiness invades his heart and drowns him. He can't breathe. He wonders if he will ever be able to breathe again. He has never felt the pressure of someone's gaze in this way. The words escape before he can stop them, "Run away with me."

The minute he says the words, he knows how stupid they sound. Rose's expression is unreadable. There is shock in her face certainly but a trace of something else too that he can't read, even though he so wishes he could. Merrin tests the waters. He tries to place his destroyed hand on top of her small, elegant white one. Instinctively, Rose pulls her hand back away from Merrin and he knows what that means. Even this angel has rejected him. He isn't even worthy in the eyes of an innocent, perfect being. For the first time, he really believes that he is worthless and stupid. He looks down at his ruined hand in disgust. He should never have been born. DomDaniel was right. There is no purpose for him here.

Rose stands up and begins to retreat toward the door where Dandra Draa is probably waiting for her. Merrin watches her go. He tries desperately to think of something to say that will make her stay. He feels that, when she goes, what little joy lives in this cold, miserable place will go with her. His throat feels dry but he knows that he will never forgive himself if he doesn't at least try to make the only person who has ever really made him happy stay for just another moment. But he knows it is hopeless. Her expression is like that of a scared little girl and she is doing what scared little girls are apt to do: running away.

"I'm sorry." The words leave his lips so softly and suddenly that Merrin isn't totally sure he said them at all. He seems as surprised as Rose is when she turns around and looks into his eyes one more time. She holds his gaze for what feels like forever to Merrin but is really three seconds. After that, she turns on her heel and briskly walks out of the Sick Bay. Merrin is alone again and he is sure that that is all he is ever going to be.


End file.
